Life raft for vessels



LIFE RAFT FOR vEssELs ,original Filed April 17. 192,0 4 sheets-sheet 1 f Feb. ze, 192,4. 1,485,280Y

A. W. LYDA K LIFE RAFT FOR VESSELS original Filed April 17. 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. ze, 1924.

A. W. LYDA LIFE RAFT FOR VESSELS Original Filed April l'. 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 /A/z/f/Vm/P da agg Feb. ze, 1924?.` 1,485,280

. A. W. LYDA LI'FE RAFT FOR VESSELS Original Filed April 1'7. 1920 Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

ARTHUR W. LYDA, OF NORTH CANTON, OHIO.

LIFE RAFT FOR VESSELS.

Continuation lo! application Serial No. 874,618, filed April 17, Serial No. 578,537.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. LYDA, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Canton, in the county' of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Life Raft for Vessels, of which the following is a speciiication, this application being a continuation of the common subject matter of my former application filed April 17, 1920, Serial No. 374,618.

This invention relates to life rafts for vessels and more particularly to a raft formed of a plurality7 of sections hingedly connected together.

The objects of the invention are the provision of a sectional life raft comprising a plurality of units, each in the shape of a life boat, the several units being hingedly connected together to allow vertical and longitudinal movement between the several units; to provide a sectional life raft of this Yind arranged to be carried upon a rail or track swung along the side of a vessel by means of davits; to provide means for lowering the rail when it is desired to launch the raft; to provide means for automatically releasing the raft sections from the rail when' they are lowered' to the surface of the water; and to generally improve constructions of life rafts.

lVith these objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

The invention thus set forth in terms is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vessel equipped with the improved life raft;

Fig. 2, a perspective view of the raft after it has been launched;

Fig. 3, a side elevation of portions of two sections of the raft showing the hinged connections between the sections;

Fig. 4, a plan View of the same;

general i i920. This appncation'ied :my 31, 1922.

Fig. 5, a longitudinal, vertical, section through one of the sections;

Fig. '6, a transverse section through'one of the sections; Fig. 7, aside elevation of one of the davits, tion thereon;

Fig. 8, a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 9, a detail sectional View of one of the links which connects each section of the raft to the rail; ig. 10, a front elevation of the same; an

Fig. 11, al side elevation of portions of a modified form of raft. l 'p A practical embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification in which similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 indicates generally a vessel upon which the life raft is carried. The davits 2 are pivoted at their lower ends as shown at 3 to suitable bearing blocks 4 {ixedly mounted upon'the deck in any suitable manner.

Each of the davits is provided with the sheaves 5 in its upper outer portion, a continuous cable 7 passing from the drum` 8 through thesheaves 5 and around the pulley 11 which is connected to a rail or track 13 which is preferably in the form of an I- beam.

The life raft proper comprises a plurality of sections, each in the forni of a life boat, these sectionsV being hingedly connected together as will be later described. The davits are provided with laterally extending arms 14 provided at their extremities with the saddle portions 15 upon which the sections 16 of the raft arenormally seated when the raft is in the inoperative position.

Cars or carriers 17 are provided with traction wheels 18 mounted upon the rail 13. Each of these cars or carriers is connected to one of the raft sections preferably by means of an automatically releasable connection such as is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings.

This connection comprises the housing 19 provided upon its upper side with an eye showing a section of the raftvin posi- 20 which is mounted upon the rod 21 of the car, a downwardly depending channel member 22 being carried by said housing and having pivotally connected to its lower end as at 23 a curved link 24 provided with the upwardly disposed portion 25 which extends through a notch 26 in the lower portion of the casing 19 and normally engaged by the depending lug 27 formed upon the horizontal arm 28 ot the locking member which is slidably mounted within the channel member 22, a downwardly depending arm 30 being Jformed integrally with said arm 28 and provided with an inturnedi curved extremity 31 which normally rests against the curved lug 32 of the link 24 being held in said position by the eye 33 which is connected to the raft section. A spring 34 is provided around the arm 30 of the locking member and interposed between the collar 29 on said arm and the shoulder 29a in the channel member 22. n coil spring 34a is preferably located around the pivotal member 23, one end thereof being connected to said pivotal member and the other end connected to the link 24 tor the purpose ot throwing said link into the open position when the locking member is released.

Each of the sections 16 ot the life ralt comprises a lite boat preferably formed ot aluminum and of suitable dimensions to accommodate passengers in a standing position. These sections or boats are connected together by means of the hinge connections best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Each of these hinge connections comprises a pair of bifurcated members 35, each of which is pivoted at 36, to the end portions of the adjacent raft section, the other end of each of said members being pivotally connected to a plate 37. Each of these plates has a disk 38 upon its inner edge, one of said disks being provided with a curved flange 3,9, upon its periphery, said tia-nge extending over the edge of the adjacent disk and having a slot 40 which receives the pin 41 provided in the periphery of the other disk. rlhe biiur cated members 35 are pivotally connected together by a pin 42 concentric with said disks. lith this construction a vertical and horizontal hinge connection is provided between each pair of raft sections. The raft may thus easily ride over the waves. the connection between the several sections a.l lowing each section to readily adapt itselt to any position necessary.

A drum 43 is located at the forward end of the vessel and a cable 44 is coiled around said drum and connected to the forward end of the rail 13. it will be understood that when the rail is lowered for the purpose oia launching, the raft is launched from the rail into the water and propelled in the opposite direction from that in which the vessel is proceeding. For this purpose the section 45 01' the raft which is at the rear end ot the vessel, but which is the first section ot the raft is preferably provided with a suitable motor 46.

ln launching the lile raft the drum 8 is rotated to uncoil the cable 7 and as this cable passes through all oit the davits on each side ot the vessel both ot the rails 13 will be lowered simultaneously. iVhen the forward ends ot the rails 13 have reached the desired position the drum 43 is stopped preventing 'further uncoiling of the cable 44, while the drum 8 continues to uncoil the cable 7, the cable 44 thus supporting the tor- "ard ends ot the rails at the desired height until the Jiorward section 45 ol' the raft reaches the. water. The motor in the section 45 is then put into operation and the entire rait moved toward the rear of the vessel, each section passing into the water and being releasel from the rail 13 as it reaches the rear end ct the rail. is the rails 13 are inclined toward the rear it will be seen that the raft will automatically be* launched even though the motors in the sections 45 are not imniediately started.

lt will be understood that as the cable 7 is uncoiled the weight of the raft will cause the davits to rock outwardly upon the pivots 3, releasing the raft sections 16 'l'rom their seats upon the saddles 15 and allowing the p entire raft with the rail 13 to be lowered along the sides of the vessel. lt will also be understood that when the raft sections have reached the proper position with reterence to the deck of the vessel the drum 8 will be temporarily stopped, while the rati; is loaded with passengers 'from the vessel after which the drinn 8 will again be rotated to allow the ratt to be lowered to the water.

Should it be necessary to immediately launch the raft in case where the vessel is sinking rapidly, the rail 13 may be lowered immediately in a horizontal position until the raft sections 16 reach the water at which time the weight of the several sections being removed from the links 24. each spring 34 will throw the locking member 28 into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9 allowing the links 24 to drop into the position shown in dotted lines in said figure, thus automatically releasing all ot the sections 16 ot the raft from. the rail 13. The motors in the sections 45 may then be started to carry the rait away from the vessel.

Then the raft from each side o't the vessel has been launched the two may be lashed together with ropes or coupling links 4T as shown in Fig. 2, thus keeping all ot the lite boats from the vessel together and atthesame time lforming a more substantial and seaworthy raft. The sections 45 upon each side of the vessel are preferably lashed. to

gether by means of a coupling link 47 at all times, this coupling link extending beyond the stern of the vessel when the raft is susv pended from the davits as shown in Fig. 1.

It will thus be seen that this coupling link will not be any interference to lowering the raft from the davits as it will clear the stern of the vessel.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is illustrated in detail, one of the individual sections or boats which make up the raft. Each of these boats or sections 16 is of suitable depth to accommodate a person in a standing position and is provided in the deck 48 with a central opening or hatch-way 49 having an upwardly extending wall 50 provided around said opening. A ladder 51 is preferably provided at one end of said opening for the purpose of permitting passengers to easily descend into the interior of the boat. Bunks 52 are provided within the interior of each section or boat, being preferably hinged to the side walls of the boat as shown in order that they may be folded against the walls when not in use. A hatch 53 is hingedly connected along one side edge of the upwardly extending wall 5() as shown at 54 and suitable bolts or fastening means indicated at 55 are provided upon the swinging edge of the hatch in order that the same may be tightly clamped upon the wall 50 in order to entirely enclose the interior of the boat forming a water-tight closure, this being for the purpose of preventing the several sections of the raft from filling with water in the event that the vessel from which the raft is launched should sink suddenly before the raft can be moved out of the immediate vicinity thereof in which case the raft would most likely be drawn or sucked down beneath the surface of the water.

In Fig. 11 is illustrated a modification of the invention in which the rail is dispensed with, each section of the raft being suspended directly from the cable, the several sections being preferably disconnected in the normal position, as shown in said ligure, and arranged to be connected together after they have been lowered into the water. This construction may be found to be better adapted to some forms of vessels than the form above described.

In the construction shown in Fig. 11, the sections 56, of the life raft are of the same construction as the sections in the other form of the invention, these sections being preferably uncoupled from each other, as shown, in order that the individual sections may be lowered independently.

The davits 57 are of the same general construction as these above described, two davits being provided for each section. A. single cable 5S, is connected to a drum, similar to the drum 8, and passes through all of the davits and connects to all of the sections, passing through pulleys 59, vconnected to the links 60, of the same construction as the link shown in Figs. 9 and 10. lllhen the drum is released the sections will be individually lowered to the water, the links automatically releasing the sections from the cable. The sections may then be coupled together, the hinged connections between the sections being of the same construction as those shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

I claim :h

1. In combination with a vessel, a hori- Zontally disposed rail carried along the side of the vessel, a life raft comprising a plurality of sections hingedly connected together and suspended from said rail, means for lowering the rail, and means for automatically releasing said sections from the rail as the sections reach the surface of the water.

2. The combination of a vessel, davits pivotally mounted upon said vessel and provided with saddles, a rail suspended from said davits, a life raft comprising a plurality of hinged sections suspended from said rail, said sections being normally seated upon said saddles, means for lowering said rail and tilting said davits outwardly to allow the raft to swing clear of said saddles and means for releasing the sections of the raft from said rail.

3. In combination with a vessel, a plurality of davits mounted along each side of the vessel, pulleys carried by said davits, a drum carried upon the vessel, a cable located over all of said pulleys and connected to said drum, a rail along each side of the vessel suspended from said cable, a life raft comprising a plurality of hinged sections supported from each rail, means for operating said drum to lower said rails and means for releasing said sections from said rails.

4. In combination with a vessel, a plurality of davits mounted along each side of the vessel, pulleys carried by said davits, a drum carried upon the vessel, a cable located over all of said pulleys and connected to said drum, a rail along each side of the vessel suspended from said cable, a life raft comprising a plurality of hinged sections supported from each rail, means for operating said drum to lower said rails and means for releasing said sections from said rails, and a second drum provided with a cable connected to one end of each rail and arranged to hold said end of each rail at any desired height from the water.

5. In combination with a vessel, a plurality of davits mounted along each side of' the vessel, pulleys carried by said davits, a drum mounted upon the vessel, a cable located over all of said pulleys and connected to the drum, and a life raft comprising a plurality of sections suspended from said cable.

6. In Combination with a Vessel, a plurality of clavits mounted along each side o the vessel, pulleys caii'iecl hy said clavits, a drum mounted upon the vessel, a Cable located over all of said pulleys and connected to the drum. a life raft coinnrisingT a plurality of sections suspentled from said cable, means for operating the drum to lower said sections, a hinged connect-ion between seotions comprising a pail' ol bifuioatecl mem hers, pivotally connected, upon horizontal, transverse axes to the end portions of acljaoent sections, a plate pivotally Connected upon a Vertical axis to each of said members, and a longitudinal pivotal connection between said plates.

raft and means for releasing)r said sections Il) from the cable When the;Y reach the Water. f in a lite iatt toiinefl ot a plurality oli' In testimony that I claim the above, I have 20 hereunto subscribed my name.

l. ARTHUR W. LYD. 

